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Field Marshall
in 2009]] in 2008]] ]] The Field Marshall tractor was a series of British farm tractors manufactured by Marshall, Sons & Co. of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire formerly manufacturers of steam tractors and Engines. The Field-Marshall tractor's were in production from 1930 to 1957. Replaced by the Marshall MP6 in 1956. Company History For tractors + machinery at Peterborough National Tractor show 08]] Field-Marshalls with tracks were produced under the Fowler name, being converted in the Fowler factory at Leeds. The first were designated the "Fowler VF", later ones being "VFA"s. Later the two firms would be drawn together and a large number of complicated take-overs by such firms as British Leyland led to the wheeled tractor concern being owned by Bentall Simplex in the early 80s. They brought the whole Leyland wheeled tractor range which had previously been built at BMCat Bathgate (which itself had started out as a Nuffield Universal tractor site)when British Leyland divested itself of some operations during the 1980s. These were then badge engineered into the New 'Marshall' range, complete with new colour scheme (Corn Yellow). The company even designed and built some totally new tractors but unfortunately due to the high costs and consequently high asking price, the tractors didn't sell as well as they should have and the company went bust during the 1980s. In the end only the Track Marshall concern was left, although even this has since gone bankrupt. The Track Marshall range being built by the Aveling Marshall division of Leyland, till it was sold off. Tractor History The first model of 'Field-Marshall' tractor to be introduced was the Marshall 15/30 in 1930. It had a bore of 8 inches with a 10 inch stroke and the maximum r.p.m. was 550. In 1932 the 15/30 was upgraded to become the Marshall 18/30. This model featured the same bore and stroke dimensions but the maximum r.p.m. was increased and the tractor's transmission was modified heavily. The next model of 'Field-Marshall' to be introduced was the Marshall 12/20 in 1935. This tractor was of a completely new design except for the engine which remained similar but with many smaller modifications such as a redesigned injection pump and cylinder head. In 1938 the 12/20 model was redesigned and the model coding was changed so that the new model became the Marshall Model "M" tractor. A few tractors were sold with a Clayton badge in some markets as Marshall had taken over Clayton & Shuttleworth. During the war tractor production was slowed down greatly however after the war, in 1945, Marshall made the improvement to the more common Field-Marshall Series 1, Field-Marshall Series 2, Field-Marshall Series 3 and Field-Marshall Series 3A. Fowler connection at Bath and Southwest Tractor show in 2009]] The Field-Marshall and its tracked stable-mate (Marshall Engined Fowler VF and VFA), Built by Fowler in Leeds, were distinctive because of the use of a single-cylinder two-stroke semi-diesel (of about 6 litre capacity) coupled to a very large flywheel. This design was quite common in Europe at the time, the Lanz Bulldog being another example of a Hot bulb tractor. Track Marshall The Crawler line was re-designated as "Track Marshall" in ? . In the 1970s about 700 "Track Marshall" (crawler) tractors were exported to Australia and fitted with Dozer blades. These machines were powered by a 4 cylinder Perkins diesel engine and were considered very reliable in their time. They steered through an unusual wet band brake system through a differential gear system. Several are still in use around the Northern Rivers area of NSW, Australia.(from the original Wikipedia article) Starting To start the Marshall a smouldering piece of special paper, containing saltpetre, is inserted into the cylinder head by means of the special screw in holder located in the cylinder head. The engine is then swung over by means of a starting handle placed in the starting dog on the flywheel. This is aided by the decompression valve, which decompresses the engine for anything up to 7 revolutions in order to allow the flywheel to gain speed, and therefore inertia, in order to turn the engine over compression, and get the engine to fire. Cartridge start A cartridge starting system is also fitted to the tractor. A shot-gun type cartridge is loaded into a breech on the engine's intake system. The smouldering paper is placed in the cylinder head, and the cartridge is detonated by tapping the protrusion pin with a hammer. This puts a charge into the bore, sending the piston flying through its stroke, bursting into life. This method, however, deposits carbon which often causes jamming of the decompression valve if cartridges are regularly used. It also puts significantly more strain on the moving parts of the engine. Electric start Later versions of the Field Marshall had more sophisticated starting systems available - electric starters were optional on the Series 3As. This was a system made by CAV. Only a handful of these very rare electric start Field Marshalls were manufactured, (Possibly 12) and a total of 5 are understood to still be in existence today. An electric start Field Marshall in 1953 would have cost about £1100, almost double the price of Diesel Major at that time. Applications in 2010]] The Field Marshall tractors were commonly used to pull agricultural machinery such as threshing machines from site to site by contractors. Once in place, the Field-Marshall would be used as the powerplant for the machine, its belt pulley coupled by a large, flat drive belt to the machine's pulley. Model range in 08]] *Marshall 15/30 1930 *Marshall 18/30 1933-34 only 88 built *Marshall 12/20 1934-45 only 450 built (inc M version) *Marshall Model M 1938 (Mk2 12/20) *Field Marshall Series 1 1945-47 s/n 2001 to 4012 (only 2011 built)Tractor Magazine price guide - 6 mph and 9 mph gearboxes available *Field Marshall Series 1 MK2 Contractor - 1945-47 *Field Marshall Series 2 1947-49 (7000 built) - 6 mph and 9 mph gearboxes available *Field Marshall Series 2 MK2 Contractor 1947-49 *Field Marshall Series 3 1950-52 s/n 12001 - 12 mph top speed & high and low gearbox *Field Marshall Series 3A 1952-57 - 12 mph top speed & high and low gearbox, 2125 models built *Fowler VF Crawler 1948 - Oct 1952 (ser No. 4700001 to 4704658) *Fowler VFA Crawler 1952-57 (serial No. 4704659 to 4706000) (exact last s/n number unknown) *Marshall MP6 - 1956-61 only 197 built (most exported) High powered successor (Originally referred to as Field Marshall series 5 prior to production internally), was redesigned to take a 6-cylinder Leyland engine and became the MP6 by release in 1956.Three Decades of Marshall Tractors, by P. Anderson, Page 148 Preserved Field Marshall tractors list Please add any known tractor were a serial No. and/or Reg no. Is known to identify it by. :(more to add from other shows with photos) Gallery Add your Field Marshall photos here (file name should include sn or reg no.) Image:Image needed.png|Replace with your image Image:Image needed.png|Caption here See also *Fowler of Leeds, Steam Engine builders then crawler tractors *Nuffield *British Leyland /BMC *Marshall *Track Marshall *Aveling Marshall *Bentnall Simplex *Shows and Meets References * Wikipedia for base article *Three Decades of Marshall Tractors, by P. Anderson. *Tractor & Machinery Magazine *Tractor Magazine *Various Shows for photos & serial No's. External links * www.tractordat.co.uk - Info & photos * www.fieldmarshalltractors.com - collection of Field Marshall photos from Rudgwick Steam & Country Show Category:Crawler tractor manufacturers Category:Tractor manufacturers of the United Kingdom Category:Marshall * Category:Tractor brands Category:Fowler